Manufacture of desiccated milk.



APPLICATION FILED OCT. 7, 1912.

Patented Aug. 19, 1913.

INVENTOR WITNESSES:

UNITED STATES PATENT orricn.

JEAN D. DAVIS, 01: GREENWICH, CONNECTICUT, SSIGNOB. NATIONAL .WHI'IE CROSS MILK GQMPANY, QF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

MANUFACTURE OEDESICCATED MILK.

Specification of Letters Ratent.

Patented Aug. 19, 1913.

App ication-fil Oc o 7, 1.912. Serial KoslMSSi.

To all-whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JEAN D'. DAVIS, a citizen of the United States, residing in Greenwich, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the.

the present method'I secure the milk in' small flakes or shavings which are. extremely thin, which occupy a much greater bulk per unit of weight than. the former product, and which are --more readily soluble in water. For this purpose I form the milk into a slab or cylinder or other shaped block (0on taining suflicient moisture to hold its shape), and shave off the face of the block andput the loose shavings through a drier to completely remove the moisture. The product is thus dried in the form ultimately desired.v For example, the process maybe carried out in detail as follows: The milkis first treated to remove a large volume of water, bringing it, say, to one-sixth of its original vvolume, by heating it and blowing air in large volume through it .in the manner described fully in the patent of Campbell, No. 668,161, of February 19, 1901. The milk thus concentrated is then transferred to the interior of a revolving drum and subjected to hot air in the manner described in Campbell Patent No. 668,162, of Feb: 19, 1901. This second stage of the process may be continued until the milk is practically dry (containing, say, from 5 to 8 per cent. of water), and broken up into small granules, being then shipped or transferred to the desired point and slightly moistened for'the subsequent operations; or this second stage of the process may be continued only to the point where the milk is solid, but stillin a moist state.

1 The milk thus slightly moistened or containing a portion of its originalmoisture is then treated in the manner illustrated in the accompanying drawings, of which Figure 1 is a diagrammatical section. of a.

press, and Fig. 2- 'is a diagrammam'cal sectiomof the paratus.

The slightly moist product A is" put in the pressiB and compacted by plunger G with'a hard as ordinarycheese. "This blocln'mark ed A" in Fig. 2' (which at this time may containabout 10 per cent. of water) is then fed with a slow feed .to a rotating knife Dwhich shaves off the face of the block. The thickness. of the shavings may be accurately regu- 5/1000ths of an inch thick. The shavings ffall upon a slowly traveling belt E which passes through a drying chamber F heated by a. radiator G. The drying apparatus is loose, 'flakvform. -The belt passing out of the drier deposits the material into a hopper H, a scraper J serving to remove any of the material which adheres to the belt. From the hopper H the material passes intov a sifter 'K of the ordinary type used to sift flour and having a mesh of any desired size.

means of aotating crank M. The material from the slfter falls into a hopper N, and thence into packages 0 placed beneath the staled at once. It is desirable hat t e prodthe drier because its very porous consistency makes it slightly hygroscopic. The blocks orcakesA' should also be shaved oil' at once after they are formed and set, as the moisture in, the material tends to cause deterioration but such blocks can be kept in cold storage for a considerable time. The moistened material is allowed to stand about three hours in the press inorder to secure the consistency necessary for the subsequent shaving operation.

It is better to first/skim the milk and then reduce 'it to the solid form; and thereafter to add cream, milk or water, or a viscous material such as condensed milk, or a-mixture of any of these to secure the necessary moisture desired in thefinal product. The addition of cream not only moistens thevmass but also increases the content of butter fat in the final product. The addition of viscous pressure suflicien-t to. form a block about as I of sufiicient capacity to. remove substantially atl the moisture from the product in its- .uct should be packed at once upon eaving shaving, drying and sifting aplated' by the feed of the block to the knife, which may he so fine as to take off shavings The sifter is reoiprocatedin guides L by hopper which are closed a d preferably or viscosity and the content of fat which is condensed milk facilitates the adhesion of ing or shaving type of apparatus maybe used. The same is true ofthe press and the drying and sifting apparatus illustrated. The process can also be varied considerably in detail bythose skilled in the art without departing from the invention. The product of this process is flaky and highly porous, the flakes being broken into larger or smaller sizes according to the fineness of the Sifter; and is very much betterin this form than in the old 7 form in which it was first thoroughly dried in granular form-and then ground in a bolting mill.

The' process in which the milk is first thoroughly dried and is subsequently moistened with cream, liquid milk or water, and then pressed and shaved has a commercial advantage in that the dried product can be easily made at 'dairyfarms and shipped to one or more distant points for further treatment, because the dried ground product will *keep in good condition much longer than if it were moist. Where moisture is subsequently added it is only necessary to soften the surfaces of the particles slightly in order td secure the desired cementing action under pressure. This method also makes it easier to secure the desired percentage of fat in the product by properly proportioning the quantity of cream added to the dried product. a l

The desiccation of the shaved flaky prodnot is especially desirable where the product is to be kepta long time. Such complete desiccation, however, may be dispensed with where the product is 'to'be used promptly 'as it is already 'sufliciently dry to keep for a few days without spoiling. Also the binding of the particles together with moisture may be practised not only upon milk first dried by the Campbell processes described, but also upon milk dried in small particles in any other, known or suitableway.

What I claim is:

1.. The herein-described process of making a'flaky, porous, desiccated milk which consists in concentrating the milk and reducing it to particles containing a small perno'roy'rei centage of moisture, pressing it'into a solid block, shaving it in thin shavings from said block, drying it in the form out loose shavings, sifting it to reduce the flakes to the desired size, and promptly packing and sealing the product to exclude moisture.

, 2. The herein-described process of making a flaky, porous, desiccated milk-which consists in concentrating the milk and reducing it to particles containing a small percentage of moisture, pressing the same into a block, shaving thin shavings from said block, and drying the same in loose, flaky condition.

3. In the making of a flaky, porous, dry milk the process which consists in'concentrating the milk and reducing it to particles containing a small percentage of moisture, pressing the same into a block and shaving thin shavings from said block; 7

4:. In themaking of a flaky, porous, dry milk the process which consists in adding to dried particles of milk sufiicient moisture to cement them together under pressure,

pressing the mass into a block and shaving thin shavings from said block.

5. In the making of a'flaky, porous, dry milk the process which consists in adding to dried particles of milk suflicient cream to cement them together under pressure, pressing the mass into a block and shaving thin shavings from said block.

6. Irr the making of a flaky, porous, dry milk the process which consists in drying milk, adding cream thereto to increase the butter fat content of the finished product, drying to a point where the product will adhere together upon pressing, pressing the mass into a block,, shaving thin shavings from said block and dryin said shavings.

7. In the making of a aky, porous, dry milk the process whichiconslsts in drying milk, adding thereto viscous condensed milk in quantity as to cause the, particles to adhere together upon pressing, pressing the mass into a block, shaving thin shavings from said block and drying said shavings.

8. In the making of a flaky," porous, dry milk the rocess' which consists in drying milk, addmg thereto cream to increase the butter fat content and viscous condensed milk to cause the particles to adhere toscribing witnesses.

, JEAN DAVIS. Witnesses:

' GEO. G. W. Nam; Amer J. ONianLL. 

